1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a print control apparatus, a control method for the print control apparatus, and a storage medium storing a program for controlling the print control apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, the number of printing apparatuses that can perform a variety of finishing processes by using a post-processing unit after printing has increased. Examples of finishing processes may include case bookbinding, saddle stitching bookbinding, and stapling. In case bookbinding, a plurality of printed sheets that constitute a main body are wrapped by a cover, and a back face thereof is pasted to output as a print product.
In saddle stitching bookbinding, a finishing processing on a plurality of printed sheets are saddle stitched to output it in a half folded state at a saddle stitching position. In stapling, a bundle of sorted output sheets is bound by a staple. Along with an advance of a finishing processing technique, a greater number of sheets can be book-bound at a time.
After performing the finishing processing, when many sheets are output at a time while paper edges are aligned, the sheets stick together due to electrostatic force. Consequently it is difficult for a user to turn pages. As one of causes thereof, a unification of cross-sections of paper may be pointed out. The unification of cross-section of paper is a phenomenon that paper edges of sheets are aligned by cutting or the like. As the result, it is difficult to put fingers between sheets of paper so that it becomes difficult to turn pages using ones fingers.
To solve this problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-93856 discusses a method for preventing the unification of cross-section. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-93856 discusses an image forming apparatus with a sheet post-processing apparatus for producing a pamphlet that is easy to turn pages by performing a saddle stitching processing or a folding processing on a bundle of sheets whose ends are set out of alignment.
However, in a method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-93856, sheets are bound while they are set out of alignment. As a result, an intended appearance of bookbinding cannot be obtained. Incidentally, when performing a cutting processing, it does not work even if the edges of the sheets are set out of alignment. Further, when performing a case binding processing, it is difficult to change the position of each sheet edge because a back face must be pasted.
Hence, an auxiliary image can be printed at a position that is used to turn pages. In this way, a book that is easy to turn pages is obtained. The auxiliary image is printed on a sheet in order to make it easy to turn pages when sheets are bound.
FIG. 20 illustrates a print product where an auxiliary image is printed when viewed from the front. In FIG. 20, as a position used to turn bound sheets with fingers, an auxiliary image is printed at a center of an opposite side of a binding position. FIG. 21 illustrates a print product where an auxiliary image is printed when viewed from the cross-section. A clearance (transparence) is secured between sheets by an auxiliary image, and thus it is easy to hook fingers on the sheet when turning sheets. However, since a printing position of an auxiliary image needs to be designated each time it is printed, a setting thereof is difficult.